The Senate on Monday vowed to look for funding to help restore the Manila Central Post Office after a massive fire engulfed the iconic building.

In a tweet, Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, who chairs the Senate Committee on Finance, said that Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri relayed this promise to him.

“SP Zubiri messaged that we have to work with the budget department towards finding funds to help restore the Post office (which had a fire),” Angara’s tweet read.

“Agree it’s a national treasure — designed by national artist Juan Arellano,” he added.

‘Probe cause of fire’

Meanwhile, Senator Loren Legarda called on authorities to investigate the cause of the fire “so that this occurrence will never happen again.”

In a separate statement, Legarda, who chairs the Senate Committee on Culture and the Arts, stressed the importance of the Manila Central Post Office as an architectural inheritance.

“We must protect our historical sites such as this significant architectural inheritance,” she said.

She noted that she was “deeply saddened” by the reports that the Manila Central Post Office, one of the historic buildings in the country and declared an Important Cultural Property, was engulfed by a massive fire that started late night Sunday.

Having been built in 1926, the lawmaker said that the building is “one of the oldest and most iconic structures in the Philippines that have been an essential part of our history, surviving many calamities and the Battle of Manila during World War II.”

“Before the fire incident, the decades-old structure still provides postal services besides operating a museum,” she said. “It is indeed a tragic and heartbreaking incident.”

The fire at Manila Central Post Office, which was destroyed during World War II and rebuilt in 1946, was declared under control at around 7 a.m. Monday.